HONG KONG--The world's largest casino operator is losing its leader in Macau amid the worst-ever downturn in the once-booming Chinese gambling hub, which has been hammered by Beijing's crackdown on corruption.

The Macau unit of Las Vegas Sands Corp. said in a statement Friday that its chief executive, Ed Tracy, has decided to retire effective March 6.

Mr. Tracy has no disagreement with the board and will be a consultant to the company after stepping down, according to the statement from the Hong Kong-listed unit Sands China Ltd.

The 62-year-old executive, who joined the casino operator in 2010 and was appointed chief executive in July 2011, said in a Friday letter to staff reviewed by The Wall Street Journal that he and his wife are returning to the U.S. to focus on family and health.

With the opening of The Parisian, Sands' fifth casino in Macau, still more than a year away, "the best management team in Macao already in place and several other important objectives already achieved, this seemed like the right point in time to announce my retirement," said Mr. Tracy in the letter. He didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.

Las Vegas Sands chairman Sheldon Adelson praised and thanked Mr. Tracy in a statement provided by the company's spokesman. As the company looks for a replacement, "we remain deeply committed to the future of Macao and the more than 28,000 team members there who are a part of the Sands family," said Mr. Adelson in the statement.

Shares of Sands China were down 3.0% at HK$36.95 in Hong Kong trading, but outperformed peers like SJM Holdings Ltd. and Galaxy Entertainment Ltd., which both finished more than 4% lower.

The announcement of Mr. Tracy's retirement comes amid a seven-month losing streak in Macau, which last year recorded its first annual decline in gambling revenue since data became available in 2002.

Executives and analysts attribute the sharp reversal of fortunes in Macau, which rakes in seven times more gambling revenue than the Las Vegas Strip, primarily to China's crackdown on corruption. In addition to bringing down many top mainland officials, the sweeping campaign has led high rollers to shy away from Macau's baccarat tables, they say.

It is unclear when the situation in Macau might improve as the campaign hasn't shown any signs of letting up. Local police Saturday arrested six people--including the nephew of the founder of one of the Chinese territory's casino operators--on suspicion of running a major prostitution ring, according to a police statement and a person familiar with the matter. The move against a member of such a powerful family was interpreted by some executives in Macau as a sign that no one is untouchable in the crackdown.

This week, analysts also cited concerns about a major junket operator closing down many of its operations. Junket operators, who recruit wealthy gamblers in China, lend them money to bet in Macau, and later handle debt collection, have been particularly hard-hit in recent months. Hong Kong has launched a money-laundering investigation into one of Macau's top junket figures and frozen his assets, The Wall Street Journal reported in December. Some junket and casino executives believe the case is connected to Beijing's closer scrutiny.

Mr. Tracy's resignation is the latest in a string of recent departures of Sands' top executives. Mike Leven retired at the end of the year after serving as president and chief operating officer of the Las Vegas company since 2009. The Macau unit's general counsel is set to retire in April, and its No. 2 executive left in September 2013 and hasn't been replaced.

Mr. Tracy joined Sands weeks after the company fired its previous Macau chief executive, Steve Jacobs, in July 2010. Sands says the former executive spawned U.S. bribery investigations into its operations with his subsequent wrongful termination lawsuit. The company has denied the claims in Mr. Jacobs' ongoing suit and said it is cooperating with federal investigators.

The Judiciary Police (PJ) have busted the largest prostitution ring in Macau since the 1999 handover, nabbing six suspects, including senior hotel executives, for their alleged involvement.

The arrests, which were made on Saturday evening, were announced on Sunday.

According to a special press conference last night, the six suspects comprise a 68-year-old local male senior hotel executive surnamed Ho; a 57-year-old male Hongkonger surnamed Mak who worked as a senior manager in the hotel’s security department; another senior manager from Macau, aged 53 and surnamed Lon; a 42-year-old local man surnamed Pun; a 40-year-old female senior manager surnamed Wang from the mainland; and a 32-year-old female receptionist surnamed Qiao, also from the mainland.

PJ spokesman Choi Iat Peng said at the press conference that police were tipped off in April last year that senior executives in a Zape hotel were allowing sex workers to solicit clients in the hotel’s ground-floor area. He added that police officers took up the case and identified the six suspects after months of investigation.

Choi said officers found that Ho hired Wang in 2013 as a senior manager of the hotel and assigned rooms to the sex workers, for which they had to pay a 150,000 yuan “entrance fee” each to work in the hotel for a year.

Choi added that Pun and Qiao were arrested for their alleged involvement in finding sex workers and coordinating with the other suspects.

The spokesman said PJ officers checked the hotel’s room registration records and discovered that over 2,400 sex workers stayed in the hotel last year. “We estimate that if each one of them paid [the so-called entrance free of] 150,000 yuan, the group should have earned over 400 million patacas,” said Choi, adding that the sex workers had to pay about 10,000 patacas per month to the gang once they started working.

Choi said the sex workers usually charged their clients 1,500 patacas per session, but in some cases they demanded as much #$%$000 patacas. He added that after gathering enough information and evidence, PJ officers went to the hotel on Saturday evening and picked up the six suspects.

They also raided 90 rooms where they found 96 sex workers – 95 mainlanders and one from Vietnam – aged 20 to 27, and seized cash in yuan and Hong Kong dollars equaling about a million patacas. He said 20 of the sex workers entered Macau illegally while 10 others possessed fake IDs.

Choi said the Judiciary Police had asked the mainland authorities for assistance in the investigation, adding the sex workers’ so-called “entrance fees” were deposited in mainland bank accounts and there were other suspects in the mainland still at large.

Choi did not identify the hotel, adding that the case “should be” the biggest of prostitution ring busted by local police since the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) in December 1999.

Choi said the six suspects will be taken to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) today for further questioning and possible arraignments on charges of belonging to a criminal organisation and pimping, while the 96 sex workers will be taken there as well.

While prostitution is not illegal in Macau, it is illegal to live off the earnings of a prostitute. However, it is also illegal for tourists to engage in gainful employment while visiting the city.

The Judiciary Police (PJ) have busted the largest prostitution ring in Macau since the 1999 handover, nabbing six suspects, including senior hotel executives, for their alleged involvement.

The arrests, which were made on Saturday evening, were announced on Sunday.

According to a special press conference last night, the six suspects comprise a 68-year-old local male senior hotel executive surnamed Ho; a 57-year-old male Hongkonger surnamed Mak who worked as a senior manager in the hotel’s security department; another senior manager from Macau, aged 53 and surnamed Lon; a 42-year-old local man surnamed Pun; a 40-year-old female senior manager surnamed Wang from the mainland; and a 32-year-old female receptionist surnamed Qiao, also from the mainland.

PJ spokesman Choi Iat Peng said at the press conference that police were tipped off in April last year that senior executives in a Zape hotel were allowing sex workers to solicit clients in the hotel’s ground-floor area. He added that police officers took up the case and identified the six suspects after months of investigation.

Choi said officers found that Ho hired Wang in 2013 as a senior manager of the hotel and assigned rooms to the sex workers, for which they had to pay a 150,000 yuan “entrance fee” each to work in the hotel for a year.

Choi added that Pun and Qiao were arrested for their alleged involvement in finding sex workers and coordinating with the other suspects.

The spokesman said PJ officers checked the hotel’s room registration records and discovered that over 2,400 sex workers stayed in the hotel last year. “We estimate that if each one of them paid [the so-called entrance free of] 150,000 yuan, the group should have earned over 400 million patacas,” said Choi, adding that the sex workers had to pay about 10,000 patacas per month to the gang once they started working.

Choi said the sex workers usually charged their clients 1,500 patacas per session, but in some cases they demanded as much #$%$000 patacas. He added that after gathering enough information and evidence, PJ officers went to the hotel on Saturday evening and picked up the six suspects.

They also raided 90 rooms where they found 96 sex workers – 95 mainlanders and one from Vietnam – aged 20 to 27, and seized cash in yuan and Hong Kong dollars equaling about a million patacas. He said 20 of the sex workers entered Macau illegally while 10 others possessed fake IDs.

Choi said the Judiciary Police had asked the mainland authorities for assistance in the investigation, adding the sex workers’ so-called “entrance fees” were deposited in mainland bank accounts and there were other suspects in the mainland still at large.

Choi did not identify the hotel, adding that the case “should be” the biggest of prostitution ring busted by local police since the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) in December 1999.

Choi said the six suspects will be taken to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) today for further questioning and possible arraignments on charges of belonging to a criminal organisation and pimping, while the 96 sex workers will be taken there as well.

While prostitution is not illegal in Macau, it is illegal to live off the earnings of a prostitute. However, it is also illegal for tourists to engage in gainful employment while visiting the city.

Economy Stimulation may happen soon. BEIJING - China's foreign trade increased 3.4 percent year on year in 2014 denominated in US dollars, significantly lower than the 7.6 percent rise in 2013 and the 7.5 percent target, indicating more room for monetary easing.

Denominated in US dollars, exports rose 6.1 percent in 2014, while imports increased 0.4 percent, Zheng Yuesheng, spokesman for the General Administration of Customs (GAC) announced on Tuesday.

"With domestic demand still depressed, policy easing is still needed," said Bob Liu, an analyst at the China International Capital Corp (CICC), adding that the government may set a lower export growth target for 2015.

LVS - There was a long dated call buyer when the stock was $54.80, with a trader paying 3.25 for 15,000 Jan2016 62.50 calls to open. Shares of LVS have been hit hard with continued economic weakness in China and what has been in apparent downtrend in high roller gambling in Macau. The stock is down 35% from the 52 week highs made early last year, but interestingly just now below the uptrend that had been in place from the 2009 lows that saw the stock rise more than 6000% from the lows:

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